So, I had another lesson on Khepera yesterday. He wasn't giving me ANYTHING he didn't have to (or rather, what I didn't earn. Or something.) A bit mouthy and disinclined to stand still. Not to mention that lovely pile of wet hay that got dumped out of the water barrel. Food. Nom.

Lots of groundwork, getting him to use his whole body and walk with long strides. Trying to keep a circle which is a heck of a lot harder than it sounds. Moving him out into a bigger circle and back in, and trying to push him and use the whip to tap his butt and make him go at the same time. My arm got tired after a while. Anyway.

Did a bit of the same thing while on his back. Circles. Move him where I want him. Hands, hands, always hands. And again trying to hold the whip so I can tap his butt when needed. Then we moved on to trot, which is more adventure, because he likes to go at a nice clip and S and I don't really want him to go that fast. So, more butt in saddle to get him to slow down. He broke into a canter once, because he wanted to go, but he slowed down soon enough.

More trot. Aaaaand. . . SPOOK! Followed immediately by a bit of canter, which, um, I don't technically know how to do yet. But boy it felt nice.

From the saddle, it didn't feel like much worse than getting tossed around a bit when Carrma stumbled. And, actually, I wasn't scared, not like I was when Pandora ran off with me one night or Carrma did a couple of times. Maybe because I know more now, but I also trust Khep and know he didn't do it to be mean, and he figured out I was off balance right away and came up under me to fix it.

dancinghorse said he hopped about four feet off the ground. Um. Probably I'm glad I didn't see or realize that at the time.

Anyhoo. Most likely it was a spook/temper tantrum because he was getting frustrated, and this was his way of saying, "No, human, that's enough, do it THIS way!" And I did. Everything after that was much better. Nice, slow, controlled trots, and I figured out how to get him to stay at the same speed when he tried to go faster.

Anyway. Adventurous day, and I'm actually a wee bit sore from it. Khep was quite smug afterwards. Happy horse. He got his cookies. And the better news is that I've graduated to intermediate rider, YAY, and I can ride Khep outside of lessons now. YAY!

(Of course, Carrma still gets first priority, because she's Carrma.)

Alas, there are no pictures from yesterday, so I'll give you another sunrise from the parking lot pic.

(And I should go to bed now, but I finally got the Roku box up and working, and OH LOOK, it's a COWBOY CHANNEL! WOOHOO!!!!)